Pat Caputo - Pros and cons of Jeff Blashill as Red Wings' coach

This much is clear: The Red Wings’ final season at Joe Louis Arena has been profoundly disappointing.

It hasn’t only been that the Red Wings’ streak of 25 straight playoff seasons is ending, but how. The Red Wings have not played inspired hockey.

It hasn’t appeared as just a blip on the screen, a one-season aberration, either, but rather as if the Red Wings’ future isn’t necessarily bright.

The Red Wings have a lot of long-term contracts on the books involving several players, who have likely already played their best hockey. It’s clear general manager Ken Holland has made some mistakes.

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What is not so evident is whether one of them was hiring coach Jeff Blashill.

The honeymoon is over. No longer is Blashill the “next one,” the young, AHL champion coach at Grand Rapids being groomed to take over when the much-celebrated Mike Babcock moves on.

He is about to complete his second season at the helm as Babcock’s home-grown replacement, and the Red Wings have experienced a significant drop off.

Last season, they backed into the playoffs and were scorched in the first round by Tampa Bay. This season, they just couldn’t pull it together to reach the postseason.

However, it would be silly to suggest Blashill is working with nearly the same material as Babcock and his predecessors during the franchise’s salad days.

The Red Wings have a badly unbalanced roster with too many smaller or fourth-line forwards, and a defensive corps that struggles mightily to move the puck.

The possession metrics don’t lie. According to the Corsi CF%, which measures puck possession in close games (a goal ahead or goal behind) at even strength, the Red Wings are the third-worst team in the league ahead of only Colorado and Arizona. Their power play is anemic, but where are the defensemen to set it up? Or the genuine snipers to score goals?

Truth is, the Red Wings are playing top money to players such as Darren Helm and Justin Abdelkader, who would be third- of fourth-liners on genuine Stanley Cup contenders.

Gustav Nyquist has seen his production drop considerably, but it is probably because he is like a basketball forward trying to play in the post without a respectable point guard.

The Red Wings did overachieve the first four months Blashill was coach in 2015-16, but it was primarily because goalie Petr Mrazek performed like a Vezina Trophy winner. He did so the spring before for Babcock as the Red Wings nearly upset the heavily-favored Lightning in the opening round.

But since Mrazek has come down to earth, so have the Red Wings in their totality.

The Red Wings have three young pieces - forwards Anthony Mantha, Dylan Larkin and Andreas Athanasiou - who could be cornerstones for a turnaround. Blashill has sent messages to all of them with various amounts of reduced playing time when they haven’t been defensively responsible, turned the puck over too much or lacked effort. That’s a plus, not a minus. Yet, this is a franchise not used to losing so regularly, and fans are impatient because they want to see the young nucleus blossom.

It would be different if Blashill had an ideal team and messed it up. That hasn’t been the case.

It’s more like he has not been able to turn water into wine.

The shelf life for NHL coaches tends to be remarkably short. In that sense, Blashill has a limited time table.

Yet, it’s been difficult to come to a concrete conclusion whether Blashill is the right coach to lead the Red Wings’ forward.

All signs point to him being back for a third season. And it should provide a more definitive answer.